Nascar Blog

Martin Truex Jr. has the pole for the 2009 Daytona 500 with a speed of 188.001 mph, and Mark Martin claimed second with a speed of 187.817 mph, they also start in the top spot in both of the Gatorade Duel races, Truex in race #1 and Martin in race #2.. The top two spots are the only ones that are guaranteed right now, they use the results of the Gatorade races to determine the rest of the starting order, the top two finishes in each Duel race outside the top 35 in 2008 owners’ points make the race, as well as the next three fastest qualifiers not already locked in.

Pretty complicated, and there has been some debate on how complicated and hard it is on the teams to qualify for Daytona the way that it is now. They should qualify normally for the most part, and use the Gatorade races to determine the top two starters for the race, they would still have the same amount of warm-up races, the Duel races and the Bud Shootout but would make it a lot easier on the drivers I bet. But what do I know.

Here is how they will start for the two Gatorade races.

Gatorade Duel Race 1
1 1 Martin Truex Jr. Chevrolet Bass Pro Shops / Tracker
2 21 Bill Elliott Ford Motorcraft
3 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Lowe’s
4 8 Aric Almirola Chevrolet Guitar Hero
5 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet DuPont
6 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet Office Depot / Old Spice
7 98 Paul Menard Ford Quaker State / Menards
8 16 Greg Biffle Ford 3M
9 187 Joe Nemechek Toyota NEMCO Motorsports
10 20 Joey Logano* Toyota The Home Depot
11 17 Matt Kenseth Ford Dewalt
12 26 Jamie McMurray Ford Crown Royal
13 6 David Ragan Ford UPS
14 47 Marcos Ambrose Toyota Little Debbie / Kingsford / Clorox
15 36 Scott Riggs Toyota Tommy Baldwin Racing
16 55 Michael Waltrip Toyota NAPA
17 34 John Andretti Chevrolet Window World
18 09 Brad Keselowski Chevrolet Miccosukee Resort & Gaming
19 9 Kasey Kahne Dodge Budweiser
20 7 Robby Gordon Toyota Jim Beam
21 07 Casey Mears Chevrolet Jack Daniel’s
22 2 Kurt Busch Dodge Miller Lite
23 77 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge Mobil 1
24 127 Kirk Shelmerdine Toyota Kirk Shelmerdine Racing
25 37 Tony Raines Dodge Long John Silver’s
26 66 Terry Labonte Toyota Window World
27 123 Mike Skinner Chevrolet Mahindra Tractors
28 146 Carl Long Dodge Romeo Guest Construction

Gatorade Duel Race 2
1 5 Mark Martin Chevrolet Kellogg’s / Carquest
2 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet U.S. Army
3 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet Target
4 28 Travis Kvapil Ford Golden Corral
5 96 Bobby Labonte Ford Ask.com
6 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet Amp Energy / National Guard
7 78 Regan Smith Chevrolet Furniture Row Racing
8 18 Kyle Busch Toyota M&M’s
9 82 Scott Speed* Toyota Red Bull
10 00 David Reutimann Toyota Aaron’s Dream Machine
11 08 Boris Said Ford U.S. Chrome / Scotts Bonus S Max
12 33 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet Cheerios / Hamburger Helper
13 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota FedEx Express
14 99 Carl Edwards Ford Aflac
15 43 Reed Sorenson Dodge McDonald’s
16 19 Elliott Sadler Dodge Stanley
17 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet Caterpillar
18 83 Brian Vickers Toyota Red Bull
19 44 A.J. Allmendinger Dodge Valvoline
20 12 David Stremme Dodge Penske Racing
21 41 Jeremy Mayfield Toyota All Sport
22 171 Mike Wallace Chevrolet TRG Motorsports
23 73 Mike Garvey Dodge Jani-King
24 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet Shell / Pennzoil
25 175 Derrike Cope Dodge Blu Frog Energy Drink
26 51 Kelly Bires Dodge BlackJack Racing
27 64 Geoff Bodine Toyota Gunselman Motorsports
28 157 Norm Benning Chevrolet Benning Racing